Other Faiths
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Infant Damnation
Do the Jews believe in infant damnation? The Jewish view is that children are without sin, so they go to heaven when they die. The Christian belief in infant damnation isn’t of Jewish origin.
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“Judeo-Christian”
Should we use the term “Judeo-Christian” to refer to things that Jews and Christians have in common? We shouldn’t use the term. It may suggest a process of development from the former to the latter, since it makes “Judeo” a…
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Ben Stada
Who was Ben Stada? The Talmud (Shabbos 104b) mentions a person named Ben Stada, and says that he was also called Ben Pandira and that his mother’s name was Miriam. The suggestion has been made that this is a reference…
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Changing Sabbath to Sunday
When and why did the Christians change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? Changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday (the day on which Jesus was said to have been resurrected) was debated for a long time — as far…
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Jesus as the Messiah
Why didn’t the Jews accept Jesus as the Messiah? The Jewish view (Maimonides, Kings 11:4) is that the Messiah will be a descendant of David who will inspire the Jews to follow him, establish a monarchy in the Land of…
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The Trinity
Do Jews believe in the trinity? G-d has many attributes, but they aren’t separate personalities. In Christianity, Jesus was transformed from a Davidic messiah into a savior who was an incarnation of G-d. The incarnation obviously couldn’t be identical to…
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The Divinity of Jesus in Christianity
Why is it so widely believed by Christians that Jesus is divine? Not all Christian denominations accept the divinity of Jesus. Only an expert on the history of Christianity could explain what factors led to this doctrine being so widely…
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The Arabs and the Jews
Why do the Arabs hate the Jews? The Arabs’ ancestor Ishmael didn’t hate them; when Abraham was buried, he gave precedence to Isaac (Gen.25:9). But Mohammed had serious clashes with the Jews in Arabia, probably because they wouldn’t accept him…
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Jewish Sources on Jesus
What do the Jewish sources tell us about Jesus? A person named Yeshu ha-Notzri (Jesus the Nazarene?) is mentioned several times in the Talmud, but the content of these references is not consistent with the story of Jesus as told…